6 THE HORSE. 



artist must know the situation of the bones, the muscles 

 which protrude under the skin, as well as the attachments, 

 and must also have studied the form of these muscles in 

 repose, in support, and in appui. It is more especially 

 upon these different periods of movement that I shall 

 dilate in the course of this work, as I have noticed they 

 form the great gap in the artistic education of the period. 



It is absolutely essential that the cause of realism in 

 the portrayal of horses, as here preconceived, should win 

 numerous converts, despite the opposition it produces. 

 I believe encouragement may be found in the marked 

 tendency towards accuracy in the pictures at recent 

 exhibitions. 



Modern painters long gave an erroneous interpreta- 

 tion, with which custom made them satisfied. Now this 

 no longer suffices ; there is a desire to learn, and, 

 happily, real progress is undeniably visible. 



Already the spectator feels less astonishment at, and 

 considers with interest, attitudes which until now have 

 been too unfamiliar to his eye. I am alluding to the form 

 and calm gaits of animals, which the public should be 

 forced to accept as accurate and not as a speciality, 

 appreciated by a few individuals. Upon this, also, 

 truth ought to shed light, and impose its beneficent rule 

 upon all without fear of injuring the routine. 



For some years past, many young painters appear 

 to have undertaken the enterprise of drawing the horse, 

 with the object of truthfully portraying it, after numerous 

 preliminary studies. 



Now we have the proof. More and more clearly 

 may be discerned the study of proportions, and of forms 

 modified with exactitude by movement. Let us hope 

 that this cause is destined to make rapid progress, in 

 spite of those who resist what they are, too lightly, 

 pleased to term innovations. 



To make innovations in Art is to draw down upon 

 oneself the reproaches of the crowd which swells the 

 number of the detractors. These latter, when not more 

 witty than learned, fight with the single force of the 

 inertia of their ignorance, based upon the errors of their 

 elders. 



It is this that we shall not cease to attack, and it can 



